The Irish standard., 1887-04-30


at sea in regard to the surroundings.
Lieut.. O'Kane at once requested to be
one of the party, and 1 consented. The
men were picked, and we started to
carry out our orders.
hight night. We had not gone far
when two shots in quick succession
rang out on the air, and the bullets
whiZzed over our heads. Two other shots
followed these presently, and halted
to consult on the best course to pursue.
when I heard another shot. The sound
never reached poor Larry's ears, fol- the
bullet passed through his heart. He
threw up his hands and fell head where
he stood. The moon shone full ou his
handsome face, on which there was as
sweet smile as ever rested on human
lips. Whatever the young Irishman's
life troubles had been, they had evi-
IDENTIFY found welcome ending. We
buried our dear cornrade where he fell
"a duty we seldom had time to perform
for others in the days that were coming
and While this was being done part OF
my command skir1nished about and
captuled three marauders. There were
no oliar rebels in the vicinity, and the
nights deadly work had been theirs.
They never marauded more.
The death OF the gallant O'Kano
greatly depressed us all. AS soon iss /
could bring myself to 10 1t, L made All
examination of his effects. [ found 4
large paper package. On the outside Of
it was note addressed to me. It was
in O'kane's peculiar square and char
acteristic chirography, and was docu-
nent appointing me his sole executor,
/ found Catholic prayer book that had
belonged to h!rn. On the lily leaf was
written Prom Sister to ----.' The
name that followed had been cut ont.
There was nothing anywhere to lndi~
cate who the young Irishnlan was: Or
whether he had any friends. / con-
cluded not to open the envelopes in the
package until could obtain legal ad-
vice. [ forwarded it to the then pro
prietor Of the Metropolitan Hotel: III
New York, who was an Ol0 and conf"
dential friend Of mine. [ obtained
leave Of absence g few weeks later.
went TO New York, and consulted
lawyer we'll known to me then and we'll
known to The nation to-day. Together
we opened the dead ileutenant'ss pack
age, and imagine mysurprise TO iindeyi
dence that he was the owner OF property
in St. Louis and Chicago worth at shat
time not less than sssO0CO Then the
folly Of nay not .favoring O'Kane wllep
he Enthusiastically wanted to tell rne his
history on the night he was killed be-
came apparent to nae. Here was q for
tune that by right belonged TO some Que
to whom be intended it should go, and
no clue to his or her identity. My law
yer assured me that / could claim and
possess the property as executor, but L
refused to do so. | placed the paper in
the hands of the British consul in New
York, with instructions to him to use
every dollar If the income Of the prop
erty in efforts to find out who the young
Irishnan was. did not think of ap-
plying to the Catholic authorities, who
might have had some knowledge OF the
dead mans history. The papers were
deposited in the vaults Of the Metro
politan Safe Deposit company, and /
returned to my regiment.
'sIn the exciting times that followed
had but little opportunity to follow up
the O'Kane mystery, and after the war
( was seut out to Fort Pembina, in
Dakota, being then a captain in the
Fifteenth Infantry. One day we had
been put through several hours of te-
dious and laborious drilling by our ma
ior, who had passion for severe exer-
else when it had to be done by others.
When he let UP on us I was about as
tired man as ever swung a sword or
handled musket. I went to my guar
ters and lay down on sofa in q private
apartment to rest a little before dinner.
I fell asleep. / don't know how long I
slept, but when awoke / became
aware Of presence in the room, and,
looking up, there, within four feet Of
me, and gazing down at me, stood
Larry O'Kane, just as / had seen him
the night he was killed. l wasn't
frightened l did not start, but quietly
returned the apparition S gaze for mo-
ment, and then exclaimed:
I" Larry, speak to lne!'
"He raised his hand, shook his head
sadly. and in an instant disappeared.
I sprang from the sofa. [ was now
thoroughly frightened. / thought was
on the verge of insanity. The more /
pondered on the extraordinary circum-
stance the more confused and alarmed
I became. Finally I started over to my
writing desk, which stood against the
wall on the opposite side of the room.